The other side of the coin
by sir brinkley of eastlake
Summary: wow a year already, well i'm back and hopefully here to stay, heres chapter five of my kinda popular series
1. Chapter 1

**ha ha, now this is an awsome idea if i do say so myself. i figured i need to get away from that odd bit of romance i was writing, so here is some action and some darker tones for a very plausable story. before you read just stop and think, what if Naruto and Gaara ended up taking each others paths down the road of life, what if Yoshimaru realy cared for Gaara and what if Iruka secretly hated Naruto, give me some ideas in your reviews and they will most likely make their way into my story. You will notice the darker tone i used for naruto and i hope writing upbeat things for gaara wont sound wierd, also i switched aroung some jutsus, many of them of my own (and my 2 brothers) design. and i can't wait until i get my laptop (huzah, only 125 more dollars to go). and sorry for all the gramatical errors that may snake their way in, i lack spell check.**

tales from another side.

ch1: The other side of the coin, when yin and yang reverse

(this takes place early on whean naruto and gaara were small)

He sat in an old abandoned building, wraped in a smelly animal skin, angry at the town and its stupid leaves, why did the leaves have to follow him around all the time. Some hokage his dad turned out to be, leaving a little kid with a demon to tend with. And why did Iruka take such a liking to him, it bugged him, why would he, out of the whole village, like him when everyone else wanted him dead. He didn't feel alive anymore, he wanted to be like everyone else, he wanted to live.

As he sat there, about to fall asleep, he quickly dragged his little legs up to stand as he saw a small racoon walk by looking for food, the racoon bothered him, so he had the leaves cut it up. all he did was wisper "leaf urn", and anyone or anything he hated got shredded and burned.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara sat on the teetertotter all alone as he saw the kids talking about him, how dumb he was, and how spooky he looked. he hated it when they talked about him, it was always when he couldn't take it anymore that his saviors came around the corner to pick him up. He smiled as his uncle Yoshimaru came by with his reluctant brother and sister, and they went home for the night, his siblings picked on him, but it was nothing like what the school kids did to him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(jump forward 8 or so years)

He stood there, his partners at either side of him, kunai ready. Naruto enjoyed this kind of training, when even both his partners, Sasuke and Sakura would fail to even graze him. Every once in a while Sasuke would land a kick or graze Naruto's black jumpsuit with a shuriken, but that didn't last long, and Itachi or Gai would always have to break up the training before anyone got killed. Sasuke hated his older brother saving him all the time, expecting him to master his sharingan when he wouldn't teach him how to use it. the only training he ever got was from Kakashi, and he was on ANBU missions all the time, and on top of all that his sharingan was inferior to his brothers, and having to learn a weaker technique made Sasuke sour.

After their harsh training Naruto left as he always did, but today was different, Sasuke had a bone to pick with him, "Hey, Naruto! You better watch our backs at the chuunin exams tomarow, you know what our orders are if you don't."

"HA HA HA! if you think your lives are important to me then you don't know me very well, and if you can't take me in training then you'll have one hell of hard a time killing me! just you better not slow me down at the sand village tomarow, or i'll leave you to die, believe it!"

Sakura hated how he yelled so loud all the time, like he wanted the whole world to hear what he had to say.

He walked out the door to go home when Iruka cut him off down the hall.

"Naruto, you havn't forgoten what today is have you, you should go to her grave before you go."

"Shut up Iruka! she was no mother, i blame her as much as i blame that excuse of a father!"

"you shouldn't say such things, she cared for you, she loved you, even right before her death."

Naruto just gave a nasty look and wandered off.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crow came in towards Gaara as he threw several sand shurikens at it and cut its strings.

"Wow Gaara, you have sure improved," said his brother with hidden enthusiasm,"we got tommarowin the bag."

"T-thanks, kankuro."

"Come on you two, uncle Yoshi wants us to get ready for tommarow."

The two brothers began joking and laughing with their sister and as they went to see their uncle.

**a lot has happened from the start to the finish of this story, i got my laptop, quit my job, learned to like romance, and shifted the focus of the story a bit. sorry if this chapter wasa bit short, they will get longer and i will include some romance, tell me any ideas for non yaoi pairings you would like to see, i want this to be an interactive story, but i am not begging for inspiration, i just want to see how this turn out if everyone is involved. over and out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**so, welcome to 'the other side of the coin' chapter two, i have a neat idea for this one. as for the jutsus for all the characters i'm going to keep them for the most part the same, except of course for Naruto and Gaara, i have come up with many new moves for them (you already read about leaf urn). their moves won't change themewise, but aproche wise you will notice changes. so without further adue.**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------**

the chuunin exams, the trial of heat and sand.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were waiting with the other students at the designated area in the sand village, Naruto was very hot in his black outfit and he was even grumpier than usual. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were standing a distance away scanning the crowd.

"Hey Kankuro," Gaara inquired, "what chance do you think we have of passing, we're real tough and all, but some of these others realy look like they know what their doing."

"Don't worry so much," Temari answered for him, "we've got the best sibling team in all of the wind village, and uncle Yoshi taught you how to controle that demon of yours realy well, we should have no trouble."

"What she said." Kankuro snorted.

All of the genin were coraled into a room with many desks, they were seated and given many sheets of paper. An older man walked in, he introduced himself as Ikazuchi and adressed the class.

"Today you all will be taking the written part of the chuunin exams, i don't waist time so we will get down to business, if any of you fail you will have to wait 2 years to take it again, if you cheat at all you will be forever barred from taking the test, ever. you must get an outstanding grade that will be curved to the highest score." he rambled on for a short while as all the genin shuddered at the strict requirments, Gaara was feeling worried, but kankuro had crow put a hand on his shoulder, which made him feel a lot better. Naruto was barely paying attention, as his teammantes steeled themselves for the worse. "Now, your assignment is to write a 500 word exactly, in detail essay on your nindo, your ninja way, you have 4 hours, BEGIN!"

Kakashi was watching from the shadows outside, he had been assigned to keep an eye on team 7. His mask grew hot even in the shade, it was much too hot that day, even for the sand village, something wasn't right.he watched as Naruto scribbled a few things on his paper and layed his head down, Sasuke was scanning the room with his sharingan, Kakashi could tell he was searching for inspiration for he had never given his nindo much thaught. He could not see Sakura but knew she was blazing through the peper with ease.

Pakun poped up near Kakashi andlooked up, "Well, all nine tails has on his paper is 'kill my enemy', a bit corny if you ask me, pink hair is scrawling on about doing her best and protecting her loved ones, hmph, just as corny. But red eye has me baffled, he wants to get back at the assassin who killed his parents and everything else he is writing is a conglomerate of pieces of things everyone else is writing."

"Ha ha ha, thats exactly what his brother did, and he passed, this Ikazuchi is a bit senile, this year more than ever, I can't believe he is still a teacher let alone a ninja."

"Ya, well, i just hope nine tailsdoesn't snap, and its a good thing Sakura and Sasuke are doing well, the teacher told me he would pass the whole squad if at least two of them do well, I'm gonna disguise myself as an ordinator agaiun and scan the other units."

Pakun vanished again and reapeared in the room as a sandnin and took a seat. Kakashi adjusted his mask and resumed watching over the team.

Rock Lee was blazing through his essay faster then Sakura, Shikamaru was sitting in front of him scratching his head, "Huh, only 500 words, this was so easy it was troublesome, i hate essays."

Gaara was having trouble putting what he was thinking into words on the paper, he saw how many others had given up, he wouldn't though, he vowed to his mother he would become a shinobi and get revenge against his father. Ikazuchi sensai was sleeping at his desk, and had been the whole time, only Sasuke and Kakashi knew he was realy using genjutsu to scan the room and read the students minds, he wasn't realy testing their writing skills, he was testing their inner strength, he was reading their true thaughts, what their ninja way realy was.

Ikazuchi sensai stood up quite groggy, the genin thaught he was a decrepid old man, but he was realy just drained from using his mind reading jutsu. "ALL RIGHT, TIMES UP. Turn in your papers."

He gatherd all the papersand put them in a nice stack, then ste them ablaze and burnt them to ashes, the genin were in outrage.

"Quiet you rascals, i'm not that senile, i was reading your thaughts while you were writing, i'v already decided who will pass..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**there, chapter 2, it was better than what i had planned (my stories always turn out that way, kinda). who will pass, what is the next part of the test, and why am i skipping the large chunk of the show and fast forwarding to the chuunin exams. you'll have to wait till the next chapter to find out, well i can answer the last one, its because that is when Gaara was introduced, thats all. until next time, sir brinkley of eastlake signing out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, this is my first chapter done in oppenoffice and i promise to make this one more in depth and longer then the last two. I looked back at the last two and i was a tad disappointed in myself, and i may remake them, possibly into one chapter. But until then i bring you the third and hopefully improved chapter of 'the other side of the coin'.**

ch.3: Pass and fail

"So, you punks think you got what it takes to be ninja, huh!" yelled Ikazuchi, "Well to tell the truth, you all make me ill. I want you all to look under your desks, there you will find a large envelope taped to your chairs."

This was met with a loud chorus of 'Hey, that wasn't there before!' and 'Where did that come from'. As the students pulled out the envelopes many tried to open it, Naruto didn't even bother to get his, and Gaara stared nervously at his. None of the students who tried to open their envelopes were able to, Ikazuchi was irritated at this and yelled, "You impatient brats! Wait till i tell you to open them, now put them down and wait for everyone to pull theres out there envelopes. That means you goth boy!"

Naruto gave him a terrible look and clenched his fist, he heard a faint 'psst' as he looked over his shoulder at Rock Lee.

"You may just want to do as he says, i heard he is the best genjutsuist in all the great five villages. Plus the longer you act this way the longer it will take to get out of here, so us real ninja can move on to the next part of the test."

Naruto was more than a bit agitated but didn't want to spend the rest of the day in that sweltering room, so he pulled out his envelope and stared at it with malice. Ikazuchi gave the order and they pulled open the tabs and read the message inside. Some had a large red X on them, and after a few moments these exploded, knocking most of the students out, but a few others were blank, and they crumbled and dissapeared, as Ikazuchi called out "Those of you who weren't knocked on you hind ends have passed, you may proceed to the next part of the test, the others must leave!"

(I'm sure you can guess who passed and who did not)

As Ikazuchi gave his speech Naruto butted in quite annoyed, "Hey, what is this all about, this test is stupid, how can silly mind tricks, some boring test, and some fancy parlor tricks decide who passes as a shinobi, huh!"

"You brat, if you were paying any attention at all you would know what was going on. It takes guts, and true inner strength to become a shinobi, you are right in one respect though, a simple written test cannot determine who is worthy of the title ninja, but i had to preoccupy your minds so my telepathy jutsu would work. Ha, except in your case it was easy, the telepathy jutsu works best when the target is asleep."

"Hey, you better not be mocking me old man!"

"Cut it out Naruto," a timid voice came from in front of him from a pink haired girl, "I want to pass this, and that means teamwork, remember what Ibiki sensai told us."

"Whatever Sakura, i just want to get out of here."

out side the classroom Gaara was sweating bullets, not because of the heat but because of all the stress, the sand tried to comfort him but he couldn't hold his concentration and it receded to the small gourd at his waist.

"Hey little bro, I'm glad you made it, just don't choke up on this next part, ok."

"Don't worry," Gaara said with an unearthly stare not usual of him, "I will pass, i will make my father proud."

"Whoa, little bro, you ok, thats not like you."

"Huh, oh, sorry, I'm not sure what just came over me, its probably just the heat."

"Sure, well, you keep your fluids up then. Come on, sis will be mad if we're late, plus she said she needed to talk to you, better hurry."

Across the hall team 7 were in a quarrel.

"Look Naruto," grunted Sasuke, "I know you hate this, but please, if never again just be a team player this once, unless all three of us make it to the end of the next test alive, we all fail."

"Look, i know what you guys want from me, I'll be a good sport just this once, but you two owe me, got it!"

Sasuke and Sakura both nodded their heads. As Naruto walked away Sakura could see the anger in Sasuke's eyes, him and Naruto were always rivals, but until just recently Sasuke had always been one step ahead, and that angered Naruto to no end. It was just until recently that Naruto got an inhuman boost in his abilities, when he was really mad he could even take on both her and Sasuke, Itachi sensai would always scold them when they would let their guard down, which didn't help matters.

"Hey, Gaara, I need your help."

"Uh, sure big sis, what is it."

Temari put a sly cat-like look on her face and leaned in towards Gaara's ear, "You know Gaara, you see those two from the leaf village, you know, the pink haired girl and the gloomy guy."

"Ya, um, what about them."

"Go ask the girl if she has any makeup on her, I'd do it but you are just so much sweeter."

"But Temari, you don't wear makeup, why would you want some now?"

"Oh, just ask her already."

"Uh, ok, sure."

Gaara walked over to Sakura and Sasuke, who didn't quite seem to notice him.

"Ahem, uh, hello." he said with a shy, groggy tone.

"Yes, and who might you be." Sakura said with haste, though it sounded almost like conviction.

"Uh, well, I'm sorry to bother you, but my sister wants to know if, well, if she could borrow some makeup."

"Huh? Some makeup, well i guess, lets see, ah, here it is."

"Um, thank you very much." Gaara said as he walked away after a quick bow.

"Well ha seemed nice, don't you think Sasuke."

"I don't know, I'd keep an eye on him."

"How come, he had great manners."

"Ya, but i got a look at him with my sharingan, i saw something in him."

"Something... in him? Like what?"

"A demon, just like Naruto."


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok so its been a while, my summer job has been cutting in to my other activities but i need the spending money, but enough about that, on to the next chapter of my most popular story to date. Finally on to the next stage of the chuunin exams. Oh, and sorry for the inconsistency in the format of the chapters, i don't always write each chapter with the others handy to reference, but nobody has complained, so it can't be that bad.**

Ch4: the valley of death

"Damn this heat, damn this heat, ahhhh!" Naruto yelled in frustration, the weather was even hotter than the day before, even for the sand country it was very sunny and dry.

Sasuke looked over to him gave him stern look, "You know, if you dressed lighter like me and Sakura instead of that heavy black jogging suit you wouldn't be this hot."

"Shut up, I'll be fine, the last thing i need right now is you giving me fashion tips, arm-cuff-boy."

"would you two stop it already, they're about to announce the rules for the second stage." Sakura said right as a loud poof signaled the arrival of the next proctor, he had a short and scrawny build, he wore a strange mask with goggles and a vent over the mouth. He looked around the field and gave a stern stare at the crowd, without making a noise he pulled up a large scroll from out of nowhere and placed it on the ground, digging its dowel rod into the soil, it unfurled and stood perfectly stiff. He then spoke in a muffled, almost electronic, monotone voice, "you have 30 minutes, then the gates will open, i hope you filled out your forms." and with that he pulled a strange canister out of his belt, put it in a slot of his mask, it made a strange 'k-kssshhh' then he put it away and teleported away in a 'poof'.

All the participants huddled around the standing scroll, it read...

_valley of death_

_chuunin exam second tier_

_guidelines_

_1; the only ettiquet rule is survival_

_2; you must remain in the valley to complete the test, its a straight one way trip_

_3; watch out for strange flying creatures on the upper parts of the canyon_

_4; don't leave the valley and come back, you all are being monitored_

_5; upon reaching the fortress at the end, you will be held there until all others have either completed the test, dropped out, been disqualified, or died_

_6; all members of the team who began the test must finish, or else_

_7; have fun. _

After they all had a chance to read and turn in their slips they were escorted in 4 large groups to the gates, through the fence they could see into the valley, it was more like a forest, it had countless spike-like rocks and strange stone formations that stretched as far as the eye can see, an uneasy feeling filled the hot dry field.

"there you go Gaara, it suits you." said Temari with a smile.

Gaara looked at himself in the small compact mirror, she had drawn thick black circles around his eyes.

"But what are these supposed to do, i feel funny with them on my face, my eyes look bad enough since i don't really sleep, but this is just creepy." Gaara looked deep into the mirror, he saw his image contort and swirl, he was mesmerized by its sight and almost saw a raccoonish face in it.

"Uh, Gaara, Fuun to Gaara, are you awake?" Temari said as she smacked his head with her fan, a large lump formed on his head and he stumbled.

"Ow, ya I'm awake, what just happened?"

"You zoned out little bro, are you ok, you had that look in your eyes again, maybe we should wipe those rings off, besides, Kankarou will probably make fun of you and say you look funny, like he has room to talk."

"No, I'll keep them, for now."

"Ok, if you say so."

Just then Kankarou came back from the bathroom with 6 full canteens, he looked at Gaara and almost broke out laughing.

"Whats with the eye shadow little bro, you trying to look tough or something."

"something like that." Temari interupted. A look of concern took over her face as she looked at the sundial in the middle of the field.

A loud wrenching sound erupted as the gates opened and the genin poured in like lightning.

It had been a few hours and the sun was directly above them, gleaming down menacingly into the valley, it became like a large oven, teams who ventured too rough during this time did not last long, team 7, as well as the sand siblings, had opted to wait out the sun.

Naruto sat on a large, cool, hunk of quartz sticking out of the ground in a small moist cave, Sasuke sat in the corner sharpening his shuriken, and Sakura sat looking out at the valley and its forest of spires. They had no choice but to wait out the sun, if they left the cave they would be cooked in less than an hour.

"Hey, Sasuke," Sakura said as she came back from the mouth of the cave, "why do you think they would put us in such a dangerous place to test our abilities, i understand we must be ready for anything, but none of this is covered in any of our previous training."

"Thats the whole point, the sand country has very strict guidelines for its ninja, if we cannot survive this totally alien test then its like admitting that we leaf ninja are weaker than the others."

"This whole test is just wrong," Naruto interrupted, "we can't allow this to go on, I'm heading out there and I'm gonna get this stupid test over with, the heat can shove it!"

It was only about twenty five minute until Sakura and Sasuke had to drag him back in from heat exhaustion.

The other teams had all made their own structures, or at least attempted to, and they dotted the valley, a few attempted to move through the shadows but quickly ran into each other and came to conflict. It was becoming sheer mental torture and was wearing away at all of their nerves, all of them except for Gaara, Temari, and Kankarou, of course. They had found an old adobe they would often play in as young children, it was in a small crevasse in the side of the valley, albeit quite a ways into the sunny path few took.

"Heh, good 'ol memories comin' back, eh Gaara?" said Kankarou as he sat up against the cool stone wall.

"Ya, uncle Yoshimaru didn't like us coming out here, but I'm glad we remembered this place."

Temari came in from filling the canteens at a small spring in the wall of the cavern.

"Well, as soon as the sun drops below the side of the canyon we can head out, we got one heck of a head start getting all the way out here."

"Then i suggest we take it easy, this isn't a timed trial, and we'll probably end up finishing in record time anyway, we know this valley better then we know our home town, it'll be a piece of cake." Kankarou said with amazing confidence.

"No," Gaara said quite sternly, which was strange for him, "We head out as soon as the first shadow hits the ground, i will be the first to meet father at the fortress."

"Whoa-ho, talking tough seems to suit you little bro, i guess you're right though, they probably have plenty of refreshments at the fort, I'd like to get my hands on some sweet curry."

"Bleh, i hate that stuff, how can you eat it." cringed Temari.

The sand three drifted off into conversation like they always did, time passed and the teams advanced, but it would still be quite a while before they reached the end, and they still had the frozen desert night to tangle with.

**Wow, i really didn't expect to get this one done, and it isn't anywhere near as long as i wanted it to be, but it got done and for what its worth i'm proud of it, and i hope you all are too. I quit my job because school will be starting soon so i may be able write more, if my parents will get around to hooking up my blasted router. But anyway, until next time.**

**P.S. fuun means earth (the planet) if i'm not mistaken **


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, over a year has passed since i last updated, and a lot of you if there are even any of you ;) may be wondering why. Well the reason is vaugly this; me and a few authers got together and talked about leaving, since at the time this site was going through a bout of "too much crap-to-good". We all said our last goodbeyes and loged off for the last time.**

**But to my suprise i am still getting hits and the rare few reviews, and since a lack of reviews was why i left this has warmed my heart just enough so that when added to the extreme bordeom i am faceing it has created enough drive within me to begin posting stories again. But know this readers, i have grown a lot in this past year and i now am writeing more for myself than for the masses. I will still enjoy getting reviews and constructive critisism, but I still don't expect a lot and i shall no longer whine about a lack of recognition, as I have entered a phase in my life where i need to work on increaseing my artistic skills, and will continue to write stories to further my cause.**

**but enough of by babbleing, i know there are at least a few of you who actualy want to get comfy and get some reading in, so i'll shut up now and introduce my latest chapter of...**

**The Other Side of the Coin**

ch5: the aproaching chill

Night had fallen and the last few thermals of warmth from the day were beginning to fade. Gaara, Temari, and Kankarou knew that they had about twenty minutes before the dry frost would set in across the valley and they needed to make tracks.

A small ways away Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were gathering their things and getting ready to march on, they were planning on sprinting down the valley all night, but little did they know what dangers the desert night held.

Sasuke went on ahead to scout for water and to act as an early warning. Naruto, exauhsted from the sweltering heat of the day, opted to stay further behind to watch the rear, when really he just wanted to rest when nobody was looking. Sakura kept a sharp eye out for traps and enemy squads.

Kankarou put on a set of spiked clogs so he could march over the encrouching frost, he knew this would generate a lot of noise, but he thought to himself 'i'll bet half the shmucks out there right now are frozen to the ground, i got nothing to worry about.' Gaara was scouting the sorounding area, skateing upon the sand, he spotted team 7 as they made their way through a clearing in the jagged spires. He turned back to warn the others, "Uh, guys, I saw a group from the fire country make their way ahead of us."

Temari looked up from her meditation, she was coating her lower legs and fore arms in chakra to allow her to treverse the ice without makeing a racket like her brother. "Don't worry Gaara," Temari said with a smirk, "They won't make it far, and from the looks of it they may be our only real competition."

"Hey," Kankarou butted in, "are we gonna sit around here and chat or are we going to get moveing"

"pipe down," Temari retorted, "were on our way."

--

Not a hundred yards away, team seven were stoped at an enigmatic marking on the ground. Sasuke had spotted it and stopped, he flagged down Sakura, but was tackled by a half asleep Naruto.

"Hey, watch it, dunce!" Sasuke hollered as he brushed off the setting dew while he stood up.

"WHAT! Me watch it, you shouldn't have been in my way, pink eye!"

"you have no idea what my family power is capable of"

"Stop it you two, we don't have time to quabble like this. Now what is it you say is odd about this thing, Sasuke."

Sasuke grunted as he adjusted his collar, "Well, it has many markings to suggest it as a seal of some kind, but it also has summoning markings almost behind it. I think someone once tried to summon something but it got canceled by someone else. But the geometries and symbols involved are highly advanced, it looks like realy powerful stuff. I say we try and cover this up, the seal has been worn away almost completely by the sand and wind, if this gets blood on it, and in this kind of place that seems very possible, it could break the seal and call up who knows what."

"I say we leave it," Naruto grunted, "let the fool who activates it deal with it."

"You miss my point, what if someone tries to use it against us, something like this could throw this whole test into the gutter. There's no way we could use it, its way out of our league."

"Says you, watch this, i'll call up this thing and show you how much your blowing this out of preportion. bites thumb stand back, summoning jut-- OOWWW!,"

Sakura had chucked a hunk of crystal at his head and knocked him on his back.

"We don't have time for this Naruto, are you trying to get us all killed." Sakura shouted

"Maybe I am, what are you going to do about it."

off in the distance a group of genin ninja from the land of snow were watching this, perfectly at home amongst the creeping frost. "Can you believe these guys, Hari." The male ninja said as he passed the spyglass to one of his two female teammates.

"Geez, you said it Sekitan. thats all they've done since they got here is bicker. Hey, Gin, you have to check this out."

"I suggest we attack them now, while they're distracted, those last two teams didn't put up a fight at all. Haveing to bail from those sound guys has left me on edge, if we can discover some leaf village secrets from those guys that might give us an edge when we meet them again."

"Well Hari, you heard her, lets move on out." Sekitan said as they 'jumped' away.

Back to team seven.

"Naruto, your full of hot air." shouted Sasuke.

"YA, well your full of sh... wait, did anyone else hear that."

"You bet, it sounded like a whistle of some kind." Sakura said as she looked around frantically to spot the source of the sound. "Over there."

A maiden in white appeared out of the darkness, wearing geisha like vestments and makeup. The gohstly figure held out its hand and pointed at Sasuke.

"Whoa! Hey! Whats going on, i can't controle my legs."

Sasuke began walking towards the spectre against his will.

"I can feel this things controle reaching my head, i could use a little help here."

"You leave my Sasuke alone, whench..." shouted Sakura as she performed a few handsigns and struck the ground, causeing fire to erupt from the ground beneath the gahstly maiden. She released Sasuke but seemed unharmed. Sasuke roused his Sharingan and took a good look at his soroundings. He could see that the geisha standing in front of them was merely an illusion.

"Its just a genjutsu, try to find the source!" Sasuke shouted as he followed the chakra trail from the illusion to a figure hideing behind a pile of stone a ways off. "I have you! Take this!"

Sasuke shot a large fireball towards the stone and melted most of it away. The person hiding behind it, Gin. leapt out and suprised team 7 with what she did next.

"All right, all right, come on out Hari and Sekitan, and you three stand down we just want to talk."

This aroused a lot of anger in Sasuke, "You attack us then tell us you want to talk, are you high or something."

"No no, that was just a show of power before we give you our real altimatum, we want you three to forfiet the test. We want you to go back and turn in your resignintions, if you don't do as we ask we will be forced to show you what we are truly capable of."

"Ya, and whats that," Naruto erupted, "some spooky berlesque show and some hide and seek, you can take those threats of yours and shove 'em, because we aint quiting this no matter what. And once I've worked my way up to hokage, i'll see you three hunted down and finished if we don't take you out here and now, believe it!"

"For once i agree with Naruto," Sakura said as she readied a kunai and formed the other hand into a hand sign. "if you want us out of here, your gonna have to make us, but i doubt you could take any of us, especialy sasuke."

"Well well," said Sekitan as he drew his hatchet and tanto, "you three sure do have a set of mouths, looks like we have a fight on our hands ladies."

"Quite," added Hari as she heled a fistfull of scrolls, "you kids are in for a world of hurt."

"Oh, ya," Naruto said with a look of delight in his eyes, "you just go right ahead and take your best shot, i'm looking forward to tannng you hides."

As he said this leaves began to pour out from his pockets, and out of his collar, cuffs, and pant legs. Sasuke focused his sharingan and grabbed a fistful of shuriken. Sakura's hand began to glow with a fiery green aura. the two groups had a short stare down, and lunged at each other.

**And there you have it folks, the next and long awaited chapter of ****The Other Side of the Coin****, and as always its rather short, as is to be expected of me. Reviews would be apriciated but expect more in the future either way. I believe my grammar has improved a bit and I think i'm beginning to enjoy yhis again. sirbrinkleyofeastlake out.**


End file.
